Recipes: Gruyere Bacon Spread - Creamy Artichoke, Peppadew, and Olive Chicken Salad - Hatch Green Chile Bloody Mary with Hatch Chile and Sundried Tomato Stuffed Green Olive Garnish

This  should have been posted two days ago. I guess better late than never?

I'm going to see if every weekend I can take a picture of my customers during my tastings.  Last weekend Bruce took one of Sandra, Pat and I.  This will be week two with ...

Lori, Joe and Pat (Hmmmm ... Pat again?)

I had both my tables full with delicious food and a nice selection of wines.

Saturday's table.

On to this weekends recipes.  I'll start with the hands down favorite.

Gruyere Bacon Spread

1 lb. Le Gruyere cheese, shredded

½ c. Hormel real bacon bits

¾ c. finely chopped red onion

1½ c. Sir Kensington Mayonnaise

Stonewall Kitchen Sea Salt Crackers

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Mix until thoroughly incorporated.  Serve with Stonewall Kitchen Sea Salt Crackers. 

Over and over I heard, "I'll just have one more" and "this is delicious".  

*******

Delallo was kind enough to send me recipe booklets to give to customers.  I prepared the Creamy Artichoke and Olive Chicken Salad.  I needed to make it easy on myself, plus Nicole had Peppadews she wanted me to use.  Therefore, I modified the recipe.

Original recipe from booklet.

Creamy Artichoke, Peppadew and Olive Chicken Salad

1 lb. TFM Roasted Chicken Salad

1/3 c. Delallo salad bar marinated artichokes, chopped

1/3 c. Delallo salad bar Olives Jubilee, sliced

1/3 c. Delallo salad bar Peppadew, chopped

mayonnaise, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

Stonewall Kitchen Sea Salt Crackers

Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl.  Mix until thoroughly incorporated.   Serve with Stonewall Kitchen Sea Salt Crackers, TFM French Rounds, or your favorite TFM crackers.

Customers enjoyed.  Several even asked where in the store it could be purchased; this is always a good sign.

Note:  I have listed "mayonnaise, to taste" because sometimes, TFM's roasted chicken salad needs more mayo. It's a personal choice.

********

Last, Hatch Bloody Mary garnished with sundried tomato stuffed green olives and Hatch Chile spear. 

Hatch Green Chile Bloody Mary

¾ c. Hatch Green Chile Wine
¼ c. Stonewall Kitchen Bloody Mary Mix
Garnishes:

Hatch Chile spear with 
                    Delallo sundried tomato stuffed green olive

garlic salt

celery stalks

lime wedges

Mix the wine and Bloody Mary Mix in a shaker with ice. Serve in a chilled glass with a garlic salt rim garnished as desired, ice optional.

Oh, if only I could have had this refreshing Bloody Mary all to myself.  It was a tad on the spicy side, but that was from Stonewall Kitchen's Bloody Mary Mix NOT the Hatch Green Chile wine.  My large Martini glass was filled with garnish and looked very festive and colorful.  A number of customers commented on how creative the garnish and presentation were.  (Makes me smile all over!)

August 22, 2015 - I sold out of Hatch Chile Green Wine so I prepared the Hatch Bloody Mary with Hatch Red Chile Wine.  It was a tad spicier but that was to be expected since Hatch Red Chile wine is spicier than the green.  Customers enjoyed it both ways, but when compared, the Bloody Mary with Hatch Green Chile wine was preferred.

Hatch Chile and Sundried Tomato Stuffed Green Olive Garnish

1 large Hatch Chile

8 to 10 TFM (Delallo) salad bar sundried tomato stuffed green olives

Slice Hatch Chile in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and discard.  Slice Hatch Chile into ¼-inch spears/picks. Set aside.

With a toothpick, remove sundried tomato from olive.  Take a chile spear and push up through bottom of olive.  Stuff sundried tomato back into olive.   Repeat for remaining olives. 

These are quick and easy to do if you use the toothpick.  You can try to push the chile spear up through the olive without removing the sundried tomato, but these olives are so packed it takes more time.